Since the start of the new season, one player who has been stealing the spotlight again for Manchester United is Paul Pogba. The player has already been playing to an exponential output compared to the previous seasons. With the additions of players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, Manchester United have exponential creativity with their club.
Since he arrived at Manchester United in 2016, Paul Pogba has been under constant scrutiny by the media as well as the fans. This comes after the player was rebought by the club at the time for €105 million. While in the current market it would seem like a reasonable value for a player of his calibre. 5 years ago, it was one of the highest transfer fees for a player. Especially for a player who wasn’t even a striker nor a prolific goal scorer. During the first season, his performances were quite underwhelming in the 29 games he started in the league. He had scored 5 goals and assisted 4 during that season in the league. While at Juventus, Paul Pogba had made himself one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world.
During that time Jose Mourinho was the manager at Manchester United. Due to his lack of trust in the defence, Paul Pogba was forced to play in the Central Defensive position due to the lack of a Number 6. Due to this, there was a constant midfield duo of Paul Pogba and Matic during the next year seasons. After Jose Mourinho had left the Club, Under Ole Paul Pogba played in the same position for the same reason.
What Changed Within Manchester United This Season Which has Helped Paul Pogba?
Last season Paul Pogba had scored 3 goals and assisted 3 in the league. Due to this many wondered how could him and Bruno Fernandes gel together. Manchester United still have a lack of a world-class number 6 within their squad. With Matic only getting older, the player isn’t in his prime when he was signed to the club from Chelsea. Due to this for the past few seasons, he had to sacrifice his creative playing style to help in the defensive part of the team.
During 2018, Paul Pogba had played in the same position he did in Manchester United but the France National team. In that system, he played as a deep creative midfielder who could bomb forward. When he did so Blaise Matuidi pushed back and played as a number 6 beside N’Golo Kante. This helped make the most out of the playing style of Paul Pogba.
Currently, due to the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, the club has been forced to play a system with a fluid 4-3-3. This system could be seen in the 4-1 victory against Newcastle. With Ronaldo being focused as the final point of the attack, Paul Pogba had to play the number 8 role with Bruno Fernandes. While Cristiano Ronaldo drifted to the far left, this gave chances for Paul Pogba to push Centrally. Due to his immense amount of creativity allowed to him, he was able to provide two assists during that game. Paul Pogba is currently on 7 assists within the first 4 games of the season. This could the season where Paul Pogba could display his talents at his best.
